SPARTANBURG — When the Wilson family attended Horizon Christian Church for a second time, they expected to fly under the radar. But greeter Alice Meisner shocked them when she welcomed them all by name.

“She said, ‘Hi Bruce, Amanda, Nick, Samantha, Ryan and baby Jeremy. How was your trip to Worlds of Fun last week?'” Bruce recalls. “We were stunned. It was like being stalked.”

Meisner, 67, has an eerie knack for remembering names, ages, jobs and other details she gleans from people as she greets them Sunday morning. After church she writes them down.

“I try to do the best job I can,” says the retiree. “I want every person to feel appreciated.”

But visitors often feel spooked.

“She said she’d been praying for us the day I left for a business trip,” says one recent visitor who now attends church elsewhere. “I asked my wife, ‘Did you tell her I was leaving town?'”

Meisner shakes 100 to 200 hands every Sunday and can even recall the order of people she met.

“She has a fabulous memory,” says the pastor. “When people get freaked out, we tell them that’s just Alice. She’s our super-greeter.” •